Yay! I am very excited to announce our first Stephen King review today. No, we’re not starting at the beginning and no, we’re not starting with a novel. Where we turn instead is, perhaps, his most important piece of non-fiction. On Writing is a very personal essay on what Stephen King believes makes a writer, a writer. On Writing has sold millions of copies and it is regularly brought up in writer’s groups as one of their favorite texts. It’s a split between two styles of writing. The first …
Non-Fiction
Listen to Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We’re Saying Now
Listen to Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We're Saying Now presents the importance of motherhood. This collection of stories was born from a live event asking women to share their stories about motherhood—now the show happens in more than 20 cities across America. This frank, funny, and touching anthology puts many of those stories down on paper and discusses the complex and diverse array of parenting experiences, from step-motherhood to infertility, and everything in between. An …
Proust And The Squid: The Story And Science Of The Reading Brain
It would be remiss of my to fail to include Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science Of The Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf. After all, this site is all about reading about reading and now you can read about how your brain makes sense of all the thins you are reading, which is what this book is all about. Fortunately, Maryanne’s prose is nowhere near as confusing as my own and this wonderful book makes neuroscience and linguistics easy. If you’ve ever wanted to see inside your own mind but …
We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement
Moms interested in politics will love this history of the Feminist movement that follows the term from when it was once regarded as a dirty word to the present day, where it is plastered on T-shirts and adopted as a brand by celebrities. In We Were Feminists Once, Zeisler argues that, although the phrase (and its ideas) have been popularized in the mainstream, the acceptance of the phrase doesn’t mean women are any closer to becoming equal. Touching on movies, advertising, fashion and more, …
Capture the Moment: The Modern Photographer’s Guide to Finding Beauty in Everyday and Family Life
Memories can last a lifetime, especially if you have captured every moment of it. Capture the Moment: The Modern Photographer's Guide to Finding Beauty in Everyday and Family Life is both beautiful to page through and a thorough instruction manual for beginning photographers. More than 100 contributors from Clickin Moms, the largest female-photographer social network, have included photographs and advice for capturing basic, understated moments in everyday life and beautiful ways to chronicle …
Funny Little Pregnant Things: The good, the bad, and the just plain gross things about pregnancy that other books aren’t going to tell you
As pregnancy hormones begin to wreak havoc on your emotional state, it’s best to seek out laughter—it really is the best medicine. The good news is that funny pregnancy books can make you belly-laugh while teaching you about the craziness to come in the next nine months and beyond. Funny Little Pregnant Things skips comparing your fetus to produce and tells you what you really need to know without trying to “scare the baby out of you.” Sarah Roy on Amazon is a fan, “By far the best …
Food Pharmacy: A Guide To Gut Bacteria
The full title is Food Pharmacy: A Guide To Gut Bacteria, Anti-Inflammatory Foods & Eating For Health but that’s too big for our title line. Lina Aurell’s got real pedigree in this field and her book comes heartily recommended by Dr Mark Hyman who wrote the Eat Fat, Get Thin New York Times bestseller. Basically, it’s a recipe book (sort of) for sorting out the microbiome in your gut and thus feel better all day every day. That’s the theory, at least, there’s nothing wrong with my gut but …
The Art of Discarding: How to Get Rid of Clutter and Find Joy
Published for the first time in English, Nagisa Tatsumi gives easy advice on how to get rid of things that are just cluttering your life, instead of adding value to it. The Art of Discarding gives guidelines on how to acquire less stuff in the first place. Tatsumi believes that by changing our attitudes about our possessions, we can rid ourselves of all the stuff we don’t actually need, opening the door to find joy in a clutter-free life. S. Mason on Amazon is a fan, “This is the book that …
Expecting 411: The Insider’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth
Of the books about pregnancy, Expecting 411: The Insider's Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth is liked by many for its conversational tone and light humor, which makes the sometimes overwhelming information easier to digest. Instead of panicking about what’s happening in your body or to your developing fetus, let this pregnancy book, written by an ob-gyn and a pediatrician, will set your mind at ease. Stanton on Amazon is a fan, “Great book for expecting parents. This book has tons of …